After about a month of uncertainty, the Town of Washington has an interim police chief.

The town council unanimously appointed Mary Doucet as interim chief during a special meeting Wednesday night at the town hall.

There are five town council members, but only Wilbert Ledet, Mona Bob and William McBride attended the special meeting. Beau Wilson and Wilson Doomes Jr. were absent.

Doucet, a longtime Washington resident, was among five people who attended the meeting and expressed interest in the vacant position after former police chief Ronelle Broussard was successfully recalled during an election held April 9.

Some of the issues Ledet asked each candidate to expound upon included whether it was an advantage for any town officer to take a patrol vehicle home and whether officers should be allowed to patrol Interstate 49 within the town limits and how each would promote officers.

Mayor Joseph Pitre explained that the interim chief would serve until a special election would be held. The election is expected to be in conjunction with the presidential and congressional vote on Nov. 8.

The elected chief would serve the unexpired portion of Broussard's, which continues until Dec. 31, 2018.

Broussard was elected to a second term in October 2014. He came under scrutiny at town meetings over the last year after residents complained he would not show up to work.

Citizens formed a recall committee in August and in November, they garnered the necessary signatures for a recall election.

Of the 257 votes cast in the April 9 recall election, only 44 voted to keep Broussard in office. That vote accounted for about 36 percent of the 807 registered voters in the town.

Broussard has been on medical leave since February 2015 following an on-duty accident in his office. Broussard said in a letter to the Washington citizens in September that he suffered a broken elbow, back, neck and eye injuries in the accident.